BLUEBERRY HAND PIES - OTHER FRUITS WELCOME!

 
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Our ABC July project was exactly what I needed to welcome summer after a rain drenched June: Blueberry Hand Pies, a recipe from King Arthur Flour. These cute portion-sized pies combine two major food groups: buttery pastry and fruit!

Since our wonderful native Maine blueberries were not ripe yet, and frozen wild blueberries are not quite as flavorful, I combined them with rhubarb from the garden (as "honorary" berry), and threw some fresh raspberries in the mix. (When I made them a second time, I used sour cherries from our garden).

The amount of sugar in the filling was sufficient to balance my tarter fruits, so I didn't add any more sugar. But first I omitted the lemon juice, until I tasted the cooked fruit. It could definitely do with a little more tang, so the lemon juice went back in.

The food processor makes mixing a cinch

For the dough I used the food processor, which made short work of cutting the butter to the desired pea sized pieces. Adding the sour cream I had King Arthur's cautioning in mind: the dough will not be cohesive.

Emptying the bowl on the counter I found this quite the understatement - not cohesive? Without the slightest feelings of solidarity, the crumbles did their best to avoid contact with their comrades, rolling madly around and trying to escape to the floor.

No worries about the crumbles: the dough will eventually cooperate!

Here my soda bread making experience came handy, I told myself not to get nervous, and managed, with a little bit of milk to moisten my hands, (and without brutal force!) to coax the rebellious crumbles into a rough semblance of a dough.

A piece of plastic foil helps here, too, you can press on the crumbs without them sticking to your hands (or, later, to the rolling pin).

For my second batch I added a bit of vodka to the dough (America's Test Kitchen's advice in mind), to make it a little moister without the danger of gluten-development, as with water. (Don't worry, you won't taste the alcohol.)

The turns - rolling and folding the dough - were less difficult than I expected. Even though the dough was brittle and got some cracks in the process.

Since it was a really warm day, and the dough started to stick a bit, I put it after the first turn for a few minutes in the freezer, to firm up again, and, also, gave it an overnight rest in the fridge before shaping and baking it the next day.

Ready to spend the night in the fridge

The little cut out stars from the vents made nice little cookies. We liked the crunch and taste of raw sugar as topping better than sparkling sugar that added nothing to the flavor.

Looking at those cute little pies we knew: they had to be great. They didn't earn their 5-star reviews for nothing - the were absolutely delicious!! Definitely something I will make again!

They taste as good as they look - definitely a keeper (here with sour cherries)

SUMMER BERRY HAND PIES   ( adapted from King Arthur Flour)
(8 Pies)

DOUGH
216 g all-purpose flour
25 g whole grain flour (I like Einkorn)
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
227 g unsalted butter, cold (2 sticks), cubed
113 g sour cream
1-2 tbsp vodka (helps moistening, but, unlike water, without gluten-development - no worries, you won't taste it!)

FILLING
227 g blueberries (or other berries, sour cherries or rhubarb, or mixed, fresh or frozen)
50 g sugar (or more, to taste)
1 tbsp. Instant ClearJel (or 2 tsp. cornstarch)
2 tsp. lemon juice

TOPPING
1 egg, beaten, for brushing
raw sugar, for sprinkling

Process the dough to a coarse, crumbly mixture with large, pea-sized butter pieces

DAY 1
Using a food processor, add flour, salt and baking powder to bowl, and pulse a few times to combine. Add butter and pulse, until mixture is crumbly, but leave most of the butter in large, pea-sized pieces.

Or whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl, add butter, and work with hands or pastry cutter.

The sour cream hardly seems enough to moisten the dough (but it does!)

Transfer dough to a bowl, and, using plastic spatula, fold in sour cream, and vodka (dough won't be cohesive.)

Plastic foil helps with kneading and out rolling the dough

Turn it out onto a floured work surface, and bring it together, with a few quick pushes and kneads (moisten hands with milk, or cover dough with a piece of plastic foil and use it to push without sticking). DON'T GET NERVOUS, ALL WILL BE OKAY!

Pat dough into a rough log, and roll it into an 8" x 10" rectangle (plastic foil on top prevents sticking). EVEN IF IT'S BRITTLE AND CRACKS, YOU ARE DOING JUST FINE!

Folding the dough the first time - you can see the butter pieces

Dust both sides of the dough lightly with flour, and, starting with a shorter end, fold it in thirds like a business letter. (If the dough gets too soft, and starts to stick, freeze it for 15 minutes to firm up again.) Use a bench knife to loosen it, if it sticks.

Trim dough to make straight edges, and place cut pieces on top

After the second turn the dough looks a bit smoother

Flip dough over, turn 90°, (re-flour, if necessary) and roll it again into an 8" x 10" rectangle. Trim sides with bench knife, placing cut off pieces on top of dough, and fold it in thirds again.

After two turns you have a neat dough package

Wrap package with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it overnight. Or, if you prefer to bake the same day, chill dough for at least 30 minutes (better longer) before using.

DAY 2
Combine all filling ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until mixture starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. (Adjust with more sugar or lemon to taste.) Transfer cooked berries to a bowl, and let cool to room temperature. (Use ice water bath, if you need it to cool faster).

Preheat oven to 425°F, placing a rack on the middle shelf. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

A pizza cutter works just fine for dividing the dough

Roll the dough into a 14" x 14" square. Trim edges with bench knife. With a pastry wheel, or a 3 1/2" square cutter, cut out sixteen 3 1/2" squares.

Divide filling among 8 of the squares, using about a heaping tablespoon for each. Brush some of the beaten egg along edges of each filled square.

The filling looks almost too much, but it doesn't squeeze out

Cut a vent into each of the remaining eight squares, using a decorative cutter of your choice. (Place cut out pieces on baking sheet, they are great as cookies.).

Top each filled square with a vented square, place pieces on baking sheet, and press along edges with the tines of a fork to seal.

Hand Pies (and star cookies) ready for baking

Brush pie tops (and cut out cookies) with remaining beaten egg, and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake pies for 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving (theoretically, we ate them, with ice cream, while hot).

 Sour Cherry Hand Pie - my delicious 2016 version!

To make ahead: Place unbaked pies on the baking sheet in the freezer. When they are frozen, wrap them individually in plastic foil and put them in a freezer bag. You don't have to thaw them, you can bake them frozen (without foil) - it will take a little longer.

Would you like to join the Avid Bakers? New members are always welcome!

Post was updated August 2016.

SOUR CHERRY PIE - BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR MY LOVE

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When I asked the best of all husbands what kind of cake he would like for his birthday I was pretty sure that he would wish Sachertorte, as usual (he always orders Wiener Schnitzel when we are in Germany, too.) But with an impish grin he retorted: "SOUR CHERRY PIE!".

In principle there's nothing wrong with that - I love pies - but this is a hot button issue in this house. My late mother-in-law was an excellent cook, and, although, like me, an American by marriage only, she mastered this Anglo-American pastry to perfection.

My first trials at making a pie crust ended the same way as my first efforts to bake muffins. As a German used to mix the heck out of cake batters so that no loose flour or (shudder!) lumps of butter remain, my muffins resembled mini pound cakes and my pie bottoms short crust.

Confronted with my first creation, after slaving away for hours in the kitchen, the love of my life uttered the fateful words: "It's not bad, but not quite right, it's not like my mother's. Her sour cherry pie is Thee Best!"

I swore to myself to do better. At my next trial my crust turned out a little flakier, and I wasn't covered in sweat quite as much, but:

"It's not like my mother's - her crust is really flaky!"

After diligently studying numerous baking books and food magazines I finally managed to produce a buttery pie crust that was neither tough, nor too brittle, and didn't get damaged in transition to the pie pan.

"Not bad," conceded my spouse - but somehow the cherry filling of his mother tasted better! That was the last straw - I'd had it. I swore I would never bake another cherry pie as long as stark ingratitude and unflattering comparisons could be expected in this household.

Not that I didn't try to pry the secret of her cherry pie from my wily Venetian mother-in-law when she was still alive. But she eluded easily all sneaky trials to find out, and direct frontal attacks she parried by claiming old age and forgetfulness.

But birthday is birthday, after all, and I had rashly promised the best of all husbands to fulfill his cake wish (are pies really cakes?)

Every baker knows that too much water makes a pie crust tough, but a drier dough is brittle and difficult to work with. Thanks to Cook's Illustrated's scientific approach, this was no longer a problem for me. Unlike water, the alcohol in their Basic Pie Crust with Vodka has the ability to moisten the dough without encouraging gluten development. (Don't worry, you won't taste the vodka.)

I like my pie crusts a little heartier, and exchange a quarter of the white flour with whole wheat or spelt, or, sometimes, substitute 2 tablespoons of flour with nutmeal.

Unfortunately, fresh sour cherries are hard to find in Maine - my own harvest was still a bit too meager this year. Therefore I use lightly sweetened Morello cherries from a glass.

Our little sour cherry tree had 5 cherries this year!

For the filling I adapted a recipe from William-Sonoma "Pie & Tart", but reduced the sugar content and added some lemon zest.

The pie has a decorative lattice top that is easier to make than it looks. Here you find instructions on how to weave it.

You can prepare the crust using a food processor or stand mixer. But keep in mind: for the food processor the fats have to be ice cold, but for the stand mixer fat at room temperature works best.

Weaving a lattice crust is easier than you think

PIE CRUST WITH VODKA
355 g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour (I exchanged 2 tablespoons flour with toasted almond meal.)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
170 g (1 1/2 sticks) cold*) butter, cut in 1/2 cm/1/4" slices
  80 g (1/2 cup) cold*) vegetable shortening, cut in 4 pieces
  1/4 cup/60 ml cold vodka (required, don't substitute)
  1/4 cup/60 ml cold water

*) if you use a mixer instead of a food processors, the fats have to be at room temperature!

CHERRY FILLING
65 g sugar
2 tbsp. corn or potato starch
1 pinch salt
750 g pitted sour cherries (glass), drained (reserve 40 ml of the liquid)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2-1 tsp. lemon zest

Instructions for food processor: 
Briefly pulse 200 g (1 1/2 cups) of the flour with salt and sugar. Add butter and shortening, and process, until uneven clumps (like cottage cheese curds) start to form, and all flour is coated. Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly.

Add remaining flour and pulse 4 - 6 times, until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and has been broken up. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

Instructions for stand mixer:
(Butter and shortening have to be at room temperature.) Briefly mix 2/3 of the flour, salt and sugar at medium-low speed, until combined. Add butter and shortening and mix just until dough forms rough ball around paddle.

Scrape bowl with rubber spatula, and add remaining flour. Mix very briefly at medium-high speed, until dough has just broken up in smaller pieces. Transfer to medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on mixture until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together.

Divide dough into 2 equal balls and flatten each into 4-inch/10 cm disk. Cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes (or up to 2 days.)

Remove 1 disk from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured work surface to 12-inch/30 cm circle about 1/8-inch/3 mm thick.

Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch/2.5 cm overhang. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough, while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Refrigerate until dough is firm, ca. 30 minutes (or freeze for 15 minutes.)

For the filling, stir together sugar, starch and salt in a small bowl. Place drained cherries in large bowl. Sprinkle with sugar/starch mixture, and toss around until evenly distributed around cherries.

Add vanilla and reserved cherry juice, stir until well combined. Immediately spoon filling into pie crust, and top with butter pieces. Place in refrigerator.

For the lattice crust roll out second piece of dough in the same way to 12-inch/30 cm circle. Using pizza roller or sharp knife, cut into 16 stripes (1 1/2-inch/2 cm wide). (See here for instructions.)

Place one half of the stripes horizontally across cherry filling (starting with long stripe in the middle).  Fold the 2., 4., 6. and 8. stripe in the middle, and over to the left side. Then place a long stripe vertically in the middle of the pie, (across stripes that are not folded over.) Unfold stripes back, so that they lay over the vertical stripe.

Fold over 1., 3., 5. and 7. stripe to the left. Place another stripe vertically on filling. Unfold stripes back, so that they lay over vertical stripe.

Continue weaving this way, until half of the pie is covered. Then start weaving the other side, folding every other stripe to the right. When the lattice crust is done, shorten overhanging stripes, until the are level with rim of the pie pan.

Put rimmed baking sheet, upside down, in lowest position, and preheat oven to 425ºF/220º C.

Place pie on hot baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350ºF/180ºC  and continue baking for 40 - 50 minutes, until crust is deep golden brown, and filling is bubbling at the rims.

Let pie cool on wire rack.

TIP: To warm up pie, bake for ca. 10 minutes in preheated oven at 350ºF/180ºC. You can also freeze the pie, wrapped in plastic foil, in a zipLock bag.

Cherry Pie - fresh from the oven

RED BERRY DESSERT - ROTE GRÜTZE

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Hot summer days and ripening berries are a sure sign of "Rote Grütze" coming up on my culinary horizon. Rote Grütze (literally translated "red gruel"- sounds awful, I know!) is a fruity, refreshingly tangy dessert, made of at least two (but better more) kinds of red berries. One should be tart, like raspberries, sour cherries, or red or black currants. The others can be strawberries, sweet cherries, blueberries, blackberries - the last two I consider honorary red berries.

Rote Grütze is a traditional dessert of Northern Germany and Denmark (where it's called Røde Grøde). In summer you'll find it on the menu of many restaurants, and every housewife in Hamburg or Esbjerg will serve it to her family, surrounded by whipped or liquid cream, vanilla sauce or vanilla ice cream.

Originally a Northern specialty, Rote Grütze became so popular that it slowly made its way further down to the South. Even conservative Bavarians - who usually poo-poo everything beyond the "weisswurst equator" - don't seem to shun this "Prussian" intruder.

Unfortunately I can't get red or black currants here in Maine - they might harbor a bug that is harmful to white firs. And fresh sour cherries are hard to find, too, only at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, in Portland.

Therefore I like using a frozen berry mixture, adding fresh berries from the supermarket or street vendors. The use of vanilla pudding powder instead of starch is, also, very convenient. Your thickener comes prepackaged and pre-flavored.

My version is as easy to make as it tastes good. When we have a summer party, it's always a great hit with our guests, we have never any leftovers!

Ingredients:
1 package vanilla pudding powder*)
3 tbsp. cold water
500 g mixed berries, fresh or frozen (reserve 1/4 cup to add later)
3-4 tbsp. sugar, depending on tartness of berries
2-3 tbsp. Creme de Cassis (black currant liqueur), or other fruity liqueur (optional)

*) Some pudding powders are not sweetened, and some have to be dissolved in hot liquid. In those cases, add more sugar to taste, and mix with hot water. But don't add the milk as per package instructions - you are making Rote Grütze, not regular vanilla pudding!

How to make:
In a small bowl, stir together pudding powder with water, until dissolved and smooth.

In a saucepan, stir together frozen berries with sugar and thaw on low heat. Add fresh berries (except for the 1/4 cup to add later,) and stir until combined.

Add dissolved vanilla pudding powder in a steady stream, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low, and let simmer, stirring frequently until berry mixture thickens (that doesn't take very long.)

Remove from heat, and stir in remaining fresh berries and Creme de Cassis (if using). Pour into glass bowl. Let cool down to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.

Serve with cream, vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce.

Tip:
If you don't like seeds in the dessert - and don't mind the extra work - puree and strain berries before adding the pudding powder.